Hanoi driver pays heavy price for overcharging tourist

He has lost his car for a week.

His driver’s license has been suspended for two months.

And he has to pay a hefty fine of VND 9.7 million ($425).

Vuong Ngoc Vong, an unregistered taxi driver, is paying a heavy price for overcharging a customer to the tune of VND 360,000 ($16), 10 times the meter fee.

The stiff punishment was levied by the capital city’s transport authorities for ripping off a tourist and parking violations.

On Monday, Vong drove Canadian national Liu Yu Wen and her two friends from the Thang Long Water Puppetry Theater to an address on Tran Hung Dao Street in Hoan Kiem District, a distance of about three kilometers. The meter read VND40,000 ($1.75) but he charged them VND400,000 ($17.14).

The foreign tourists reported the incident to a tourist support center and the city’s tourism department.

A day later, Vong was caught parking in the wrong place on Hoang Dieu Street. He admitted to the district’s transport inspectors that he had overcharged the foreigners.

Vong has been asked to return the money to the foreigners through tourism officials.

Vietnam was named among the world's 20 fastest-growing tourism markets in 2016, but this growth is undermined by increasing street crime, pollution, traffic chaos and scams on tourists.

While taxi scams have reduced significantly over the last decade, they continue to be a vexing problem.